Long Awaited Awakenings
by sssms
Summary: SPOILER WARNING...My thoughts on Bosco's awakening and a few others...


Long Awaited Awakenings....

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters or places.

"What do you mean, he's missing?" Faith asked.

"I called the apartment to make sure he got home from school and he didn't answer. Then I called Emily's cell phone to see if he was with her. She didn't answer either. So I left work early to check on him. And he wasn't at home. Mrs. Freeney, the nosey neighbor, didn't see him come in." Fred explained.

"So are they both missing?" Faith questioned, her hands on her hips.

"No, I think Emily is with her friends." Fred answered, his gaze not meeting Faith's.

"YOU THINK? THAT'S JUST GREAT, FRED!"

"Look Faith, fighting isn't going to help anything. We need to find Charlie. He's been really emotional these last few days. I'm....I'm afraid he may have run away."

Faith started to respond, but held her tongue, trying to get her anger under control. "If Charlie gets hurt, so help me Fred..."

Turning, she stalked over to the front desk to ask the desk sergeant to put out a missing child alert and to tell them she was leaving. Turning back, she asked, "Do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

"No. I searched the new neighborhood. I talked to his friend from school. He doesn't have very many right now. I don't know, Faith."

"Maybe we should try the old neighborhood." Faith suggested, still glaring at Fred.

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The ride to Faith's apartment was completely silent. Fred and Faith both scanned the street for any sign of Charlie.

As they climbed the stairs towards their old apartment, Fred bumped into Faith as she suddenly stopped. Looking over her shoulder, he saw Charlie sitting on the top step reading a comic book. He looked as if he were about to fall asleep.

Both parents sighed in relief. Fred held his ground as Faith approached Charlie and sat on the step beside him. Reaching out, she ran her finger tips through the edge of his hair, getting his attention.

"MOM!" He shouted, throwing his arms around her, his head against her chest.

"Hey, baby. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you. Dad said that you were in trouble and we couldn't see you. I was waiting for you to get home. I didn't have a key to the apartment." Charlie explained.

Looking up, he followed Faith's gaze and noticed Fred standing a few steps below them. "What's he doing here? I'm not going back! I hate the new place and I hate that woman!" Charlie scrambled out of Faith's arms and ran down the hall, stopping in front of Faith's apartment, his arms crossed and his head down.

Faith and Fred followed.

"Charlie" Faith tried to talk to him, but Charlie turned away.

"Why don't we go inside?" Fred suggested, not really wanting to have his dirty laundry aired in the hallway.

Faith opened the door to the apartment, taking Charlie by the shoulders and guiding him inside. He sat on the couch with a huff, his face red with anger and wet with tears.

"Charlie" Faith coaxed, sitting on the coffee table in front of him.

"I'm not going back. I don't like it there. I want to come home. I want us all to come home and be normal again. Em wants that too." With that, Charlie broke down completely, sobbing in Faith's arms.

A heart broken Faith was eerily reminded of what Bosco had told her about his own parent's divorce and the effect it had on him.

"Charlie. It's ok, baby. We'll work something out. Mommy's not in trouble anymore. That was all a big mistake. We'll work something out so I can spend some time with you and Em." Faith glared at Fred, daring him to disagree.

Fred, knowing not to cross Faith when she had that look and not wanting to upset Charlie further, agreed. "Yeah, Charlie. We'll work something out. Just calm down ok." Fred sat on the couch next to Charlie, placing a hand on his back trying to comfort him.

"Maybe you should try Emily again, Fred." Faith suggested, still not knowing for sure where her daughter was.

"Yeah." Fred agreed.

"She won't answer." Charlie mumbled against Faith's shirt.

"What? Why won't she answer?" Faith questioned, pushing Charlie away from her so she could talk to him.

"She went to the hospital to see Uncle B. She wanted to talk to him about things..."

"THE HOSPITAL! I TOLD HER TO STAY AWAY FROM BOSCO!" Fred yelled, jumping up from the couch and clinching his fists.

"Fred, calm down." Faith advised.

"CALM DOWN! CALM DOWN? I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! BOSCO IS THE CAUSE OF ALL OF THIS! BOSCO AND YOUR JOB! THEY WERE ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT THAN US!"

"Bosco and my job!" Faith stood up, one arm still around Charlie's shoulders as he stood beside her. "That's great, Fred! Just great! Blame everything on Bosco and my job! None of this had anything to do with you and that blond..."

"BIMBO!" Charlie interjected, causing Fred and Faith both to stop and stare at him. "I hate her and Emily hates her too!" He added, frowning at Fred.

"How long, Fred?" Faith asked.

"What?" Fred questioned.

"How long have you been with her? Were you seeing her while I was in a wheelchair unable to walk?"

"No!" Fred snapped. "Do you think I would do that, Faith? No! I didn't start seeing her until after you went back to work WITH BOSCO! And I told Emily to stay away from him." Fred turned toward the door, fists again clinched. "He ruined this family and I'm going to break every bone in his body!"

Just as Fred cracked the door open, Faith slammed it shut again, leaning against it. "That won't be necessary, Fred. Do you know why? Bosco is still in a coma. Just lying there, being fed through a tube. The doctors say he may never wake up."

Seeing the shocked look on Fred's face, and forgetting that Charlie was listening, she continued. "On the day of the shooting, I would have been killed, Fred. But Bosco covered me....threw himself in front of me and took four bullets, Fred. He almost died right there in that room and again on the operating table. For me, Fred. And do you know why? Because he's my partner."

"I was you partner too, Faith." Fred said more quietly.

"You still don't understand it, Fred. There was never any contest between you and Bosco. You were both my partners in different senses. I depended on Bosco on the street to help keep me safe, so I could get home to you and the kids. And I do love him, as a friend, and he loved me; he proved that. But I loved you as a soul mate, Fred. As the father of my children and the man I wanted to grow old with. Bosco never tried to be that person, Fred. In fact, I probably would have left you at least twice, but Bosco encouraged me to stick it out; to give it another chance. Why can't you understand that?"

"It's not that simple, Faith." Fred replied, avoiding her gaze.

"I know it's not that simple, Fred. And I know that I missed out on a lot of things because of my dedication to my job. I wish I could change that, Fred. But I wouldn't change my partnership with Bosco."

Fred looked up at her and shook his head. "I'm going to go get Emily."

"Well, we're going with you."

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Emily had sat at Bosco's bedside for a long time, just watching him, wondering if he would wake up. He hadn't budged. She had no idea that he had been injured so badly. His face was pale and he seemed a lot smaller than he had before. He had a terrible scar on the right side of his face. An oxygen mask covered his nose and mouth. And a heart monitor beeped at his bedside.

A nurse had come in and told her that it was alright to touch him and to talk to him, that he might hear her. But she was almost afraid to, he seemed so fragile. Besides that, she couldn't remember the last time she had touched Bosco. She remembered sitting on his knee when she was really young while he told her stories and tickled her tummy, and the way he would fly her and Charlie over his head like an airplane. And she remembered playing with him on the floor beside the Christmas tree on Christmas day. He'd always brought them the coolest presents when they were little. But she'd been indifferent or maybe even angry with him for a long time now. Some of it had been jealously of the time he spent with her mother and some of it had been because of her dad's anger towards him.

She reached out hesitantly and placed her fingers of her right hand into the palm of his hand, nearly jumping when she felt the warmth of it rather than the coolness she had expected. She felt strange knowing that she was touching him, but not knowing if he knew it.

"Uncle B?" She almost whispered. "It's me, Emily. I don't know if you can hear me or not. I wish you could wake up. I know I haven't really been that nice to you lately."

She smiled slightly. "Actually, I've been a total jagoff, as you say. But I remember you told me last year when mom was hurt that I could come to you, for anything. I really wish I could talk to you, Uncle B. Everything is so crazy right now. I don't know what to do."

Emily was caught up in her one sided conversation with Bosco, and didn't notice Faith and Fred quietly enter the room, them having insisted that Charlie stay at the nurses station for now.

"Dad left mom....for the blond bimbo." Emily hesitated, tears rolling down her cheeks. She squeezed Bosco's hand. "I don't know what he was thinking. I mean one minute he was telling us about Jesus and the next he was seeing this woman that's ten years younger than him. He said that things would be better. That Charlie and I would have our own rooms. And I went along with it at first, because I was so mad at Mom....for not being there for so many things....for choosing her job over us....even for choosing you...or so it seemed at the time. But it's not better. Charlie's upset. Dad's upset. He and THE BIMBO have been fighting every night. I know that he doesn't think we hear him. And he cleans the couch up before we get up so we won't know he's been sleeping on it."

Emily wiped at the tears on her face, then began again. "And I hate it there, Uncle B. I miss mom. Even if we didn't see her that much, she's still our mom. And even though I'm angry with her, I still love her. I'm so tired, Uncle B. I'm tired of being caught in the middle. I just want everything to be normal again."

With that, Emily broke down sobbing. Releasing Bosco's hand, she laid her head on her arms on the side of the bed, her whole body shaking.

Faith was about to take a step towards her, when Fred reached out and stopped her. Emotional himself, having been pricked by Emily's words, he didn't manage to speak, but instead pointed.

Faith glanced at Fred, then looked back to see Bosco's eyes slightly open and his hand reaching up to smooth back Emily's curls.

"Em" he barely whispered, grimacing at the pain the effort caused.

Faith covered her lips with her hand, as tears streamed down her face.

Emily's head snapped up, when she realized that Uncle B was talking to her, causing Bosco's hand to slide down to the edge of her face where he wiped a tear away with his thumb.

"Uncle B?"

"Don't ...cry....Em. It'll....be...ok." Bosco managed, although the effort exhausted him.

Emily sniffed back her tears, moving from her seat to embrace Bosco in a very long hug. "I love you, Uncle B."


End file.
